After talking to several Hillsboro wrestlers and head coach Matt Mitchell, I didn’t get a sense that they felt cheated out of their second state title because the Missouri State High School Activities Association moved St. Pius X (Kansas City) up two classes after it won state Class 1 in 2024.
In fact, the Hawks welcomed the Warriors to Class 3, where Hillsboro has won five consecutive team trophies, including finishing second to St. Pius March 1 at Columbia.
Whether or not we agree on shuffling private schools from class to class for competitive balance, across all the sports, the public schools more than hold their own in wrestling. Of the four boys classes, St. Pius was the only private school to win state, and public schools took home 14 of the 16 team trophies.
Ironically, St. Pius of Festus experienced a similar bump when the girls volleyball team, despite the school’s small enrollment, was plucked from Class 2 – where they had won three state championships and six other team trophies – and moved up two classes. It took a few years for the Lancers (current enrollment 233) to adjust to playing schools four or five times their size, but they won the Class 4 state title in November and are further evidence the state’s playoff formula is serving its purpose.
Back on the mats, I was on the floor of the Mizzou Arena when De Soto junior Brenton Drummond was violently thrown down by St. Michael the Archangel junior Parker Lutz during the third-place match at 120 pounds. The matches around their mat continued while a medical team attended to Drummond. Dragon sophomore Levi Huck, on the way to his third-place match at 175, jogged past as Drummund was moved to a stretcher. Huck set aside his concern for his teammate to focus on his match, which he won.
Drummond was taken to Children’s Hospital in Columbia. I texted him Sunday night to see how he was doing. He declined an interview because he wasn’t feeling up to it, but he was home and that’s all I really wanted to know. That means he’s getting better. It’s a reminder that ultimately, wrestling is a hand-to-hand combat sport.
And if that wasn’t enough of an example, another wrestler from the county was already at the same hospital when Drummond arrived. Windsor senior Luke Patterson did well in his last of four state tournaments, but he couldn’t take the mat for his third-place match at 132 because of an injury he’d suffered earlier in the day in the semifinals. I’ve never been a fan of the state moving the semifinals from Friday night to Saturday mornings as it did several years ago. Had the semifinals been on Friday night, Patterson might have recovered enough to wrestle the next day.
Patterson and Drummond had to miss the presentation of their fourth-place medals, which their coaches took care of.
I also talked to Patterson on the phone Sunday. He was feeling better as well. The local wrestling community can breathe a sigh of relief.
After four days of state wrestling, our county produced two individual champions: Festus senior Mya Hairston (100 pounds) on the girls side and Hillsboro senior Jackson Tucker (144). It’s the second title for Hairston and a school-record third for Tucker, who nearly joined the elite club of four-time state champs. He finished second at 126 as a freshman.
On to basketball. In Class 5 District 1 at Farmington, you know it’s a meatgrinder when Sikeston, at 23-3, only merits a No. 2 seed. But the Bulldogs lost 81-74 to the top-seeded host Knights (24-2) in January, so that makes sense. No. 3 Cape Girardeau Central (17-7) lost by 10 points to Farmington in December and by 19 to Sikeston in February, but beat No. 4 Hillsboro (12-11) 53-40 in January. Poplar Bluff (11-13), Festus (15-10), North County (8-16) and De Soto (4-22) are the fifth through eighth seeds. The semifinals are Friday and the championship is Monday.
The Class 5 District 1 girls tournament is at Cape Girardeau Central beginning today (March 6) and the co-champions of the Jefferson County Activities Association are the top two seeds. No. 1 Hillsboro (23-2) is the defending district champion and has won 14 straight games. Festus (20-5) is No. 2. The Hawks and Tigers split their two conference games. Hillsboro opens against No. 8 De Soto (11-15) while Festus takes on No. 7 Cape Central (11-15). The semifinals are Saturday and the final is Tuesday, March 11.